JAIPUR: The BJP won the final three mayoral elections for major municipal corporations in Rajasthan on Friday, with Sunil Kothari elected Mayor of Jaipur, Prasannchand Mehta in Jodhpur and Anusuiya Goswami in Kota.
With the three victories, the BJP now has mayors in nine of Rajasthan’s 10 municipal corporations. Of the seven corporations where mayoral elections were held earlier, the BJP won in Ajmer, Alwar, Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Pali and Udaipur, while the Congress secured the only victory in Bikaner.
In the Jaipur Municipal Corporation election, Kothari secured 89 votes, against 60 for the Congress candidate, while one vote went to NOTA.
In Kota, Goswami won with significant cross-voting by Congress councillors. The BJP had 59 votes, comprising 57 of its own councillors and two independents, but Goswami secured 65 votes. The Congress, which had the support of 39 councillors and one independent for a total of 40 votes, received 35.
In Jodhpur, where the BJP and Congress had each won 44 wards, the mayoral contest was closely fought, particularly as the city is the political stronghold of former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Mehta ultimately won the election with the support of 53 councillors, while the Congress received 47 votes, giving the BJP one more vote than its original tally.
In other municipal elections, BJP’s Jitendra Chopra became the Municipal Chairperson in Suket, while Congress’s Sushil Midha won in Shrivijaynagar.
The closely contested election was also marked by clashes between BJP and Congress workers at some places in the city. The Congress accused the police and local administration of failing to provide adequate security for its councillors.